Last weekend my darling husband came home with several bags of apples given to him by one of our friends from church. He knew I had already done my grocery shopping for the week, but sheepishly suggested I might want to come up with a way to use them so they wouldn’t go to waste!  I knew he wasn’t thinking I should use the apples to make one of those awesome Pinterest craft projects … like shrunken apple-head dolls …or a festive apple cinnamon wreath! No. Knowing my husband and his ever-present sweet tooth, there was no doubt about what he wanted. And as I quickly scanned my cupboards, he was pleased to learn I had everything necessary to make one of his favorites!

Apple Cobbler
(Serves 12)

Ingredients:
9 cups tart cooking apples, peeled, cored, sliced to 1/4 inch
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter, melted
ice cream if desired

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place sliced apples in ungreased 13×9-inch baking pan. Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in bowl; sprinkle over the apples. Combine remaining cinnamon, flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder and salt in bowl; beat at medium speed until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apples. Pour melted butter over topping. Bake 45-55 minutes or until lightly browned and apples are tender.

Serve warm with ice cream if desired.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
Yes, this time, I had all the ingredients I needed, but have you ever made a recipe and left out a primary ingredient or worse, used the wrong one? As much as I would like to forget it, I clearly remember a time years ago when I made a chocolate cake and mistakenly added baking soda instead of baking powder! I couldn’t figure out why the cake didn’t rise, but when I tasted it, the salty taste was a clear indication of my mistake! Imagine if I had made the apple cobbler recipe, but forgot to include the apples? Or mistakenly used salt instead of sugar? I would have ended up with an unappetizing, inedible mess, worth nothing but to be tossed into the trash!

Life’s like that too. The divine recipe for our lives requires a primary ingredient, a life surrendered to Jesus Christ, for us to fulfill God’s plan and purpose for us here on earth … and for eternity. If the outside looks like the real thing, but a heart for Jesus is missing on the inside … if we have omitted or substituted something else for a true relationship with Jesus Christ … the end result will be nothing but eternally disastrous. Scripture says “You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3) “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we can be saved.” (Acts 4:12) “I am the Vine, you are  the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) “Knowing the correct password – saying ‘Master, Master’, for instance – isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience – doing what my Father wills. I can see it now – at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.'” (Matthew 7:21-23 MSG)

There is a day coming when there will be no second chance for you to “correct the recipe” of your life if the main ingredient is missing, no second chance to make it right. It will be the day when you transition from this life to eternity. 1 John 5:12 says “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” Are you prepared for that day? Do you have the right ingredient, a life surrendered to the Son of God as your Lord and Savior? If not, I pray today will be the day you do.

–Cheri Henderson